The Mailbag

Colours and General Site Feedback
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Last week's question: which is your favourite colour scheme, Colour scheme 1, Colour scheme 2, or Colour scheme 3.

White on Black!!
submitted by Thanatos

White on Black is perfect! If you want to go for a different, less plain look, then opt for a red-black combo. Red font, black background. THAT will look cool!!

Well, if you're a major site, you pretty much have two choices: white on black or black on white. For some reason that's the expected standard. The real debate is what colours the links and headlines should be...

Color scheme
submitted by [R] sin

Ok, here is my opinion on the different color schemes.

The first one was my favorite. I think the dark green fits the Quake II theme the most, matching with the green color that is usually on the Q2 logo. When I think of which color goes with Quake II, I think green. Maybe it's just me...

The dark blue was ok, but it didn't seem to match with anything. It seemed like they changed the color just to have a change, and not to really improve anything. It's just as dark (if not darker) than the green was, so people with the dark monitors still had trouble with it.

The new orangish color is not that bad either. Although the shade is kind of odd, it matches with the quake2.com logo, so it does make some sense. Plus it is bright so it should work with darker monitors.

If it was all up to me, I'd choose the old green scheme. But I think this latest one is the most user friendly so it might be best. Either way it doesn't really matter to me because I can read it all just fine, and it doesn't effect the content on the page.

You are right, the biggest reason behind changing the colours is because we needed a change... Change is good! Change is healthy!

Color scheme
submitted by Big Al

Well, Personally I Like Color Scheme 2, I Don't Like To Color Scheme 3, but 1 or 2 are fine.

Color scheme vote
submitted by Ben Davis aka Bad Seed

Pretty obvious that color scheme 2 is easiest on the eyes while also being the coolest looking. Too dark? WTF?! Everyone knows you play Quake2 in a darkened room for atmosphere and we all drop by this page just prior to or after a fragfest anyway so.. "NUFF SAID" so to speak!

Yeah, personally I have never been able to see how it could be too dark... but on the other hand, my monitor is nice and bright. Other people obviously can't see the dark blue well enough, since we got so many mails about that.

Color scheme
submitted by edifusRex

I like color sheme number one, Bob =)

Bob? BOB?

Enduring Arguments et al
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Hehe, re: What??!??!??!!
submitted by [R]Korn

Actually Kathleen, there is an error in your message. You didn't capitalize the A in American. No biggie, just thought I'd point it out, I figured you'd be proud enough of your country to at least capitalize the first letter, but I guess not. Oh well, there's always good 'ol Canada...Now, go out and GIB!
Oh, and bEElzebUb, chill man, that was supposed to be humour, sheesh...

You know, I hunted through Kathleen's e-mail to find an error so I could shove it in her face, but I couldn't find one <G>. But seriously, let's not get so petty... read the next letter.

Canadians vs. Yanks
submitted by r0tfish, formerly known as bEElzebUb

OK, that's gone on long enough. I don't want to start an international flamer-war, or anything like that... it's just that us non-american's love to get in a little USA-bashing now and then. :-Þ
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Ain't that the damned truth. Seems like every time I log onto battle.net, there's some anti-American channel running, and it's just jam packed full of Canadians. I don't quite understand this. I mean c'mon, how can Canada possibly try and bash on the U.S.? Shit, all you logjammers have is hockey...

... uh oh, I can feel it, I've started a war. :-)

OK, it's nothing personal. I'm sorry if I've offended any Americans, but try to see it my perspective (or any Canadian's way).

We, as Canadians, live on the border of America. America dwarfs us population-wise, I think by a factor of 10. We live and breathe all that is USA. If there's an election coming up in USA, we get the adds from American TV. We have editorial cartoons about the American politicians in our newspapers. Hell, where I live, I get to hear about it if New York State is electing a new Governer. When Clinton got involved in the sex scandal, it was on the front page here for a week too. Do you know how hard it is for Canada to have news big enough to cover the front page of USA Today? I can tell ya, it doesn't happen very often. It's enough to annoy most of us... how many Americans could name all of the candidates who ran for Prime Minister in Canada's last election? American-bashing is something we do to keep ourselves sane. Something like that. It helps remind us that we are unique, we are not Americans yet, we are Canadian, eh! There's probably a deeper psychological thing to it, considering that it's become a natural obsession...

P.S. Just out of curiosity, does anyone out there actually believe that Canadians are lumberjacks and Eskimos, living up in the frozen north in their log cabins and igloos? Seriously?

Domains (Richard Connery)
submitted by Mugwum

Quake3 will rule guys. Let id work their magic and you, too, will love it.

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>I'd like to rant about something and I heard this is a good place for those things. Domains, can't live without them thus taking advantage of the community by selling www.quake3.com is plain sad.

It's a fucking disgrace, plain and simple. The people who hack Quake2.com should fuck off and go hack dumbasses like the people who thought buying Quake3.com would be a laugh.

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On a different note. In defence of the 6th grader you stoned with abuse (okay, you politely explained stuff to), I'm English and I find all this missplelling teribbly anoyyuing. So you mustn't havvago at little kids, k?

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I'd also like to quietly apologise, if i've offended anyone over the last few weeks, too........a little squirrel called Satan took over my Mailbox, while Flu, headaches and bad tempers took over what I wrote. Ignore the rantings of a sick bloke.

I'm gonna shut up now.

If anyone's keeping track, quake3.com's page says today (that's April 12th) is the day they stop accepting bids, so we can find out who ended up paying the most to those llamas. Next, well, that 6th grader knew the risks when she wrote the mailbag. Just saying "I'm only in 6th grade and I have a college reading/writing level" with her snoot in the air was askin for trouble :) And serioulsy, Mugwum, stop worrying. People do not get offended by stuff they read as easily as you might think. Hey, relax there fella. You just need a rest, guy. :)

Everything in the mailbag
submitted by Techno Kill

Everyone quit yer bitchin' and shut up. I don't normally blow up on people, but I think you guys are insane. You and yer Colour, not color, and Navy Seals 2 will be commercial. Big deal ok. Quake 2 is friggin' commercial, and so is other stuff. And who gives a F*uck about spelling, we're talking Quake here.This isn't a goddamn playground. (Sorry for all the swears) One other thing. Camping is good and bad, like that one guy said. It just depends how you do it. I also don't see why it's such a big problem, I play a lot of Q2 on the net, and there's not much camping to me, the only time there's camping is on the damn bots that are out there.

You try to make this a humerous and interesting experience for people, and this is the thanks you get. "Who gives a f*uck about spelling, we're talking Quake here". Does it have to be Quake? Really? Nowhere in the guidelines does it say "Make sure your opinion is about Quake and Quake alone, because we're all hard-core gamers and we don't care about anything but Quake, Quake is the only thing, Quake, Quake". A good mailbag should have a healthy mix of Quake and Not Quake(TM) (Although admittedly we are getting a bit off-topic here...) I think YOU need to lighten up and relax.

More on camping...
submitted by [N]sin

After reading your reply to my long e-mail on camping I thought I would continue the debate.

Here is the first segment of what you wrote:
"OK, don't let this sour you on the whole mailbag experience, but I have to take issue with some of the things you've stated here. First of all let me state that I am not a regular camper, I do not hide in dark corners with rocket launchers, or hang out next to respawn points (I HATE when people do that!). However, if I want to hang out in a dark corner, it's my right to do so. If you walk past me, and I shoot you in the back, is it my fault you didn't notice me? Is it my fault that you were too busy rampaging through the level to slow down and be a little more careful?"

You are definitely correct that it is your right to do so. I think I made that clear when I said "if someone feels that camping is fun for them, they should go ahead and camp" and when I said "Since anyone has the option to camp, it is not cheating".
But if you do hide in a dark corner waiting for people to kill, you are camping, at least by my definition. I'm not saying you don't have the right to do that, I am saying that I have found it not to be a good strategy based on my experiences as a player. You may have earned that frag by camping, but that dude who is "rampaging through the level" is probably getting a lot more. That is what I am trying to say.

More of what you wrote: "Also, sniping from a high spot, well what's wrong with that? After a little bit of practice, you should be able to tell where the sniping spots are, and there is ALWAYS a back way in that the sniper can't guard."

Basically the same thing. There is nothing wrong with it, other than maybe a lack of strategy. If you are "rampaging through the level" you are probably getting more frags than someone who is just sitting in a high spot picking people off.

Continuing what you wrote:
"also, sniping is damn hard (example - get LMCTF. Go to map LMCTF02. Get railgun. Grapple up to the platform. Try sniping. See how annoyed people below you get - not very). I mean, I can hold my own with a Rocket Launcher (I'm a Rocket Arena veteran), but I have loads of fun sitting on a roof with a railgun trying to pick people off (I'm also a TF sniping veteran). Just watching one person explode in a pile of gibs is SO much fun."

Ok, I have really no debate here. When you start talking about LMCTF I can't disagree because camping is a whole different trip in team games. I tried to say that when I said "camping is legit in CTF" but I didn't really explain it. I don't doubt that it's fun either. Like I said, "Sure, it may be fun. But I don't camp, and have a lot of fun too". I don't think camping is a good strategy, so I have fun but don't camp, and I think I play better because of it.

Last bit of what you said:
"HOWEVER... there is such a thing as taking it to the extreme, such as sitting on the rockets in a corner of a DM level and wasting anyone who shows their face... that I don't do, and I agree that it is kind of cheap, but I would never whine about it... I would just kill the guy! (or get killed by him enough that I avoid him)."

How is that extreme example any different from when you said you have the right to "hang out in a dark corner" and shoot people in the back? I agree that whining is not cool and is best just to kill the guy, and I also basically agree with you saying that camping is "kind of cheap" but I don't like to use the word "cheap" because I don't think it has anything to do with cheating. I think it is just a bad and annoying strategy.

I don't think I disagree with you very much about this issue, except for maybe where to draw the line on what camping is. Still, I enjoy debating the issue and I don't want it to seem like I am trying to get in your face about it.

OK, let's get a few things straight. Let's say I'm camping. I'm averaging maybe a frag every minute, because I'm sitting on top of a roof with a railgun or RL and not many people walk by. You are travelling the level in a circuit averaging maybe a frag every twenty seconds, because obviously you will meet more people. So what? Who cares? I have a different style of playing than you. You are collecting more frags, but I am enjoying myself as well. Where's the problem?

And BTW, after re-reading last week's 'bag, you are right in that I am being hypocritical (I just KNOW I spelled that wrong). Camping in an easily defended vital spot, such as right on the level's only rocket launcher in a dark corner, is sometimes annoying, and that will sometimes make me mad. However, there is almost always a back way in to kill the camper, so I don't stay mad for long.

Color and camping
submitted by thumper

Here are some of my thoughts on the topics of current discussion.
Colours:
I really like the colour combo number three, the orange. Makes it a lot easier to read at a 1280x1024 resolution. Teal wan't too bad, but blue made my eyes hurt because i had to squint to get the letters to come into focus. Light blue or yellow on black works pretty well also, though they may be to bright when using a lower resolution.
Camping:
Ah, campers. I like a good camper. Emphasis on the word good. A good camper can really test your skill, wits, and frustration. They can be a real challenge and a lot of fun, you can learn a lot from a camper. The only kind I don't like is respawn site camping, there's no challenge in it. I think this is about the same as Chuck Norris picking on a partially paralyzed, arthritic, ARPA member, but if that's how you get your rocks off, fine with me. I won't bitch about it, i'll just come back and kill you. The only time I call out the word camper is when I have identified a camper and I have been unsuccessful in rooting them out myself and I need help. If you can't handle the camper don't bitch to them about their choice of strategy, get help from other players to go root the guy out. Whining just makes you out to be a baby and should be at home suckling at your mothers teat rather than killing your fellow man.:-) The main thing on campers is if you're up against one, kill them and get on with the game. If you can't kill 'em there better than you, just deal with it.
Files area:
I agree that there should be an area that has the current patches available for downlaod rather than having to root through the archives, or more likely go to another site to find what you are looking for. It might even be nice to include some of the more popular mods and bots in the area for easy access. Yeah you might be able to find the files on some of your hosted sites but it would be a
BFG & CTF:
I think the bfg unbalances ctf quite a bit. I prefer playing ctf without it, but if it's there, i'll only if it's used againt me. It even prompted me to make a simple mod that spawns a hyperblaster in place of the bfg for ctf. I also have a set of ent files for vanctf with the bfg changed to a hyperblaster or rocket launcher.
Navy Seals:
Looks to me like Andy likes to bitch, without being helpful at all. Those TC's take a lot of effort for all involved and unless you have worked on one or something like it you have no idea how much work is actually involved. I can certainly understand not wanting to post a mod or what ever until the authors are comfortable with doing so. These people take a lot of pride in their work and are good at what they do. The time to post a mod is, when it is to the point that the authors are ready to have public feedback, not before. I think you would have gotten just farther by simply posting your questions and concerns about the TC rather than berating the development team. I wouldn't listen to your suggestions, even if they were good, simply because of your tone. Although, if you were after answers you did get them, but you didn't make any freinds in the process.
Keep up the good work guys.

I'm just wondering how on earth you can surf the net on 1280x1024 resultion, when the majority of sites are still designed for 800x600.
Amen on the camping! I agree with you there.
CTF/BFG - you know what, I don't fear the BFG. I think it is a crappy weapon which is only good against people just sitting around not doing anything, newbies who don't move when they fight, or people who are really lagged or stuck in the architecture. You know why I think it's crappy? Because, if someone fires a BFG at you, all you have to do is move! You'll survive, trust me. :)

Miscellaneous Stuff
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[no subject]
submitted by Bernard

Personally I think your opinions on camping are great. I've only played Quake2 Deathmatch for 1 day and I usually only end up about 4th on the list in kills or frags. That's with doing it with just keyboard and no grappling hook, which I wish I knew how to get, not to sound ignorant or anything. The one day that I played Deathmatch and capture the flag, I found camping the most boring thing in the world and I tried it only once b/c my fingers got tired of moving across the keyboard. Personally I have to keep moving or else I get shot into chunks. I think capture the flag is way funner than DM if you can get cooperation from your team. My team had good skills but poor communication and all we did was run around one at a time and got picked off everytime.

Whoa there, you're rambling... try and organize your thoughts a bit more next time :)

No More Dead Sites!
submitted by Mr. Baldy

I am a webmaster at the Quake 2 File House at http://www.logicquest.com/q2files ... Mr. Baldy ... And I think my site has a lot of good content and good design. So to sum it all up, it has the works. I'm not saying it's the best files site, but I think it ranks up there in one of the top spots somewhere. I went to some sites in the gaming community to see what their hosted files sites were like:

Quake2.Com - FEAR (Hasn't updated since March 17) PlanetQuake - No hosted files site (has their own database) The Sentinel - A good files site (http://quake2.stomped.com/db) Blue's News - No Hosting.

I was upset at the fact that Quake2.Com's files site was not up-to-date. Then, I took the liberty to check out all your hosted sites to see which ones were up-to-date:

AWOQ -- UPDATED
Capture^2 -- UPDATED
Converted -- UPDATED
Crash's Maps -- UPDATED
EarthQuaked -- UPDATED
***********
FEAR: A Quaker's Companion -- NOT SINCE MARCH 17
***********
Bot Epidemic -- Moved
File Fanatic -- UPDATED
GLQuake2 -- UPDATED
Q2 - Ware -- UPDATED
Scarecrow's Buttons -- NO NEED
Q2 Scene -- MOVED
Technical Element -- NO NEED (Not since October)
Turmoil -- Closed March 25
Webring -- I got lost in this site
ClanRing -- NO NEED
Modeling Studio -- UPDATED
Q2 DLLs -- UPDATED
Workshop -- UPDATED
VQ2 -- Not since January 8
Q2 Times -- Not since October 6
MaelStrom -- Not since March 21
DM2 -- DEAD
The Mirror -- Not for a while
666Skins -- UPDATED

While looking through this list, there are some sites that stick out like a sore thumb. Sites that do not update, in my mind, are not providing resources to the gaming community. I will take two quotes straight from your hosting info page:

"As a general rule, we usually host sites that provide an important resouce to the Quake 2 gaming community."

"We prefer to host sites that contribute something signifigant not other wise being covered."

What I see in the hosted sites that do not update regularly, or haven't often, is that the only reason they are hosted was because they had their site ready and roaring to go before Quake 2 came out, so they could grab the hosted slots. This does not mean that they are the greatest sites for the gaming community though. But there are also sites that are hosted here that are the best in the Quake 2 community from standpoint of resources, information, and other important information needed by the Quake2ers of the world. Having a *good* site and not being hosted by a *good* major Quake 2 site is real dissappointing to me. My point is that with a Quake 2 files site like FEAR, what good is it for a Quake 2 player looking for the newest mods to look there, when all they have is the older versions which are not compatible with newer ones.

I am not trying to lie or anything. I want to be hosted by Quake2.com more than any other news site. I like getting hits to my page. And I think my page is qualified enough for the job as HOSTED SITE.

--
Mr. Baldy
The Quake 2 File House

http://www.logicquest.com/q2files

Well, sure, FEAR is going to stick out like a sore thumb as not being updated if you call it
**************** FEAR ***************** <G>.
For the record, I passed your mail on to Nigel, the q2.com CEO... And when I went to check out logicquest.com/q2files, I'd found that the site had moved to quake3.net. Guess we're not good enough for you, eh? (Sure, quake3.net's the best place to go if you want more traffic, um...). To your credit, Mr. Baldy, it is a well-designed site that deserves a look, check it out everyone. And Baldy, if you have an issue with the FEAR webmasters, take it up with them personally. The way to get your site hosted on Quake2.com is definitely NOT to bash the sites that are similar to yours.

Just a Quick Note...
submitted by Chris aka Lt. Ripley

I'm an avid player of Quake II, especially Lokis Minion and Zoid's CTF. Since I've been around in the Quake world, obviously I realize they're aren't too many other Christians. In fact, some are right borderline on Satanism. I wanted to thank you for your mentioning of Easter and the resurrection of Christ on your website. It shows that, even if you don't believe in event (which I can PROVE--LITERALLY--that the Bible is true), you still have enough respect for those who do and their beliefs to bring recognition publicly on your website.

Thank you.

And so ends my latest mailbag. If I didn't post your mail, then you didn't read the guidelines! Remember, technical questions will go straight to my trash can. I will try to post submissions which contain ONLY VALID OPINIONS. Read on for the guidlines...

Guidelines

Don't send me specific hardware questions; mail them to the respective companies' technical support.
Don't send me specific gameplay questions like how to finish a certain level.
Don't send me specific problems you're having; mail them to id Software instead.
Don't send me questions about a specific mod; mail them to the mod author.

The Mailbag deals with opinions, not specific questions. Also, I don't reply directly so you'll need to check The Bag each week. If I happen to grin at your submission you are free to send another. Use it to show I was wrong; if you don't send other logic arguments or facts I will grin a lot harder. Send them to mailbag@quake2.com.

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